After changing the handlebars on my Surly LHT, I just came to this wonderful conclusion after spending the last 4 hours pulling my hair out trying to adjust the front derailleur (the rear one is fine):

The ratio of cable movement to derailer movement differs with Shimano's "road " vs. "MTB " front derailers. This can cause indexing problems if you use a "road" front derailer with upright handlebars or a "MTB" front derailer with drop handlebars. This is a concern if you are running an indexed front shifter, such as Shimano STI or RapidFire shifters.

master6 wrote: Moderators are like Club Handicappers; I often think they are wrong, but I dont want the job.

Urgh, those Shiftmate things are terrible. We were selling Charge bicycles equipped with 2300 shifters, a Shiftmate pulley, a 2300 front derailleur and Sugino cranks. The STI's work badly with non Shimano cranks, because they rely on properly aligned pins and ramps, so the chain would skate between shifts. Then add the Shiftmate to the mix, and the shifting was so bad that two were returned to us within two months. We re routed the cables under the bottom bracket with clamps and stick on cable stops, but it wasn't pretty. You'll also find that STI's don't quite have the right cable pull for Cantilever brakes, it works *in theory* but it just feels sloppy.This would be my solution, I love these things. They are fast and responsive, will work forever and give instant gear feedback. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=13648

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